J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Figures on a Beach c.1826-45 > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Figures, with a ?Fisherman Reaching over the Side of a Boat c.1826-40

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Figures, with a ?Fisherman Reaching over the Side of a Boat’ c.1826-40
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Figures, with a ?Fisherman Reaching over the Side of a Boat c.1826–40
D24624
Turner Bequest CCLIX 59
Gouache and watercolour on blue wove paper, 141 x 189 mm
Inscribed in red ink ‘59’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CCLIX 59’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
While other elements, apparently also figures, are barely developed, in the centre a man leans over the side of a small boat. There is a hint of reflection from his pale clothing, and he may be a fisherman reaching into shallow water or attending to a beached boat. For other scenes with fishermen, see the Introduction.
As discussed there, this is one of the subjects of figures by the sea which Ian Warrell tentatively suggested as linked to Brighton around 1827, while noting that they could equally well show scenes in England or France on other occasions.1
1
See Warrell 1989, pp.120, 123 note 114.
Verso:
Blank; inscribed by John Ruskin in pencil ‘311 | O’ bottom right (partly obscured); inscribed in pencil ‘54–68’ top left; inscribed in pencil ‘D24624’ bottom left. There is a border of white paper or tape, indicating that the sheet was formerly mounted.

Matthew Imms
December 2015

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Figures, with a ?Fisherman Reaching over the Side of a Boat c.1826–40 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, December 2015, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-figures-with-a-fisherman-reaching-over-the-side-of-a-boat-r1182566, accessed 20 April 2024.